Sins Of The Father
by eMMeD
Summary: Casse and Cari Hayes are respectfully addicted to the Harry Potter series. What reasonable person isn't? At age 11, they were both crushed when they didn't receive a Hogwarts letter. Takes place 11 yrs post Deathly Hallows. T for safety.
1. Roderick Kane

**A/N: Okay so this a fanfic done by the combined writing styles of andnowforsomethingdifferent and, obviously, eMMeD! **

**Disclaimer: If either of us were JK Rowling... would we be posting on fanfiction? No, we'd be making millions by selling a new Harry Potter book that all would love! **

**This chapter was masterminded by eMMeD**

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He looked at his sleeping wife, already regretting what he was about to do_. 'It's for them,'_ he assured himself, looking first at his wife and then at the two identical pack-and-plays that lined the hotel room wall, _'It's for their safety.' _No matter how many times he told himself this it didn't make what he was about to do any easier. _'If I survive I'll come back for you'_ Roderick thought as he felt through his wife's luxurious dark tresses.

His wife stirred and opened her eyes groggily. "Roderick?" she asked her voice still thick with sleep. Roderick smiled at her voice. He loved her Irish lilt. His smile vanished, replaced by a grimace. In a few moments that glorious lilt would be gone, and he would be the cause of its disappearance.

Roderick shook his head forcefully, attempting to rid himself of those thoughts, but they would not leave.

"Everything's fine, dear. Go back to Sleep," Roderick said, his voice shaky, knowing that his inquisitive wife would never obey him when his voice held such an obvious secret.

"Yeah, right..." she said pushing herself up into a sitting position, "What's wrong? No one followed us, did they?" Roderick hated hearing that tone of worry in her beautiful voice. He looked at his wife, he could only see a little of her face in the darkness of the room

"Nothing's wrong," Roderick assured her. Even in the dark he could make out the incredulous look she was giving him.

"Aye and I'm the heir of Slytherin," she said sarcastically. Roderick knew his wife wouldn't let up until she heard the truth, so he decided to tell her part of what he was thinking.

"Do you ever regret marrying me?" Roderick asked his wife. The question had been plaguing him since the war had begun. His wife looked at him and then did something completely unexpected. She leaned in and kissed Roderick. She didn't just give him a peck on the cheek.

She kissed as she hadn't since before the twins were born, since before the war had started. When they broke apart it felt like forever had passed.

"I've never regretted it, even for a moment," she whispered into his ear.

"But I've put you in danger... I've put our children in danger. I am hunted like an animal, and, because you are related to me, you are too," Roderick said to his wife.

"1. I was already in danger, I just didn't know it. Rod, I'm a muggle. That puts me in as much danger as you do, possibly more. They'd kill me for looking at them wrong. 2. You got us to America, effectually saving us from the war. 3. You enlightened me, showing me a world I never..." she trailed off and fell back into a sleeping position on the bed. Roderick felt guilty as he placed his wand back in his coat pocket.

"Sorry," he whispered, brushing the sleeping woman's cheek with his lips, "I knew that if I listened to your beautiful voice for even one more moment my resolve would crumble... I'm doing this for you, you and the kids," Roderick said the last part more to himself than anyone else.

Roderick reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand again. "Obliviate," his wand trained on his wife. His voice was strained, and his eyes burned with unshed tears. He watched as his wife shifted position on the bed. She sprawled all the way across the bed, no longer leaving room for Roderick to slip in next to her. "I love you," he whispered into her ear, and he began gathering his stuff. It wouldn't do to leave any of it behind.

After gathering his items, he walked over to where his two daughters lay. He hoped beyond hope that he would be able to come back and watch them grow, but, if he didn't come back, Roderick wanted to say goodbye to them. He leaned over their pack-and-plays. Both of them were fast asleep. "Hey, Loves, Daddy has got to go away for a while... And while I'm gone, Mummy's going to act different," he told the sleeping twins, "She's going to talk different, call you by different names, and tell you about things that never happened. It's a big game of make-belief that you three are going to play until I get home," 'if i get home,' "Daddy loves you," Roderick said with a sad smile. He leaned over further and gave each toddler a kiss on their cheek. Roderick then stood up, grabbed his bag, and then turned on the spot, disapparating with a loud crack.

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Roderick stared at the twisted faced man, watching Dolohov's face rather than his wand. His own wand danced in his hand, responding to his thoughts. Bright lights flashed throughout the Great Hall. Dead bodies were strewn across the floor, and Roderick was convinced not to join them.

He twirled, dodged, and blocked Dolohov's incoming jinxes and curses. A green jet of light barely missed his left ear. His vision blurred for a moment. Roderick had missed death by meres millimeters.

A wave roared in his ears, and he lost control for a moment. Roderick shot a disarming charm at Dolohov. Dolohov didn't block quickly enough, and the death eater's wand went flying, landing across the room. Roderick smiled sadistically: Dolohov was defenseless. Roderick took a step towards the twisted man and his wand at a spot between the man's eyes.

Something had snapped in Roderick, because for the first time in his life he muttered an unforgivable curse, "Crucio!" The red light blasted from the end of his wand. The death eater screamed in pain, writhing on the floor in agony.

"Roderick!" he heard the distant voice of Arthur Weasley, who was within seconds at Roderick's side. He looked at Roderick with a worried glint in his eyes. "We do not torture disarmed men. That's their job," Arthur said, pointing at the still-writhing Dolohov.

"Arthur, this man deserves it!" Roderick said. He lowered his arm for a moment but then restiffened, "He deserves worse! Do you know who he was dueling before me?"

"No," Arthur admitted.

"Them," Roderick said fiercely. He pointed to two corpses a few feet away from Roderick and Arthur. Arthur gasped, and Roderick knew that the older man recognized the corpses. "Remus and Tonks, they'll never get to see Teddy grow up," Roderick said tersely, thinking of his own children. "Roderick, I know it's hard, but you have to leave him," Arthur said. Roderick looked from Dolohov to Arthur. A cool savagery burned in the pit of his stomach, but Roderick knew this wasn't right. Taking a man's life would not avenge another's death. It only added more bloodshed.

"You're right, Arthur. Killing this scum won't help anything. Better to cart him off to Azkaban," Roderick said savagely, lowering his wand for good.

At that moment, Dolohov pounced, taking both men off guard. Dolohov pried his captor's fingers open, retrieving a new wand. He pointed Roderick's wand at the two men. "Avada Kedavra!" Dolohov shouted.

The spell hit Roderick squarely in the chest, and he flew backward. Time slowed down around Roderick as his lungs collapsed. He saw his wife and daughters, silently cursing himself that he would never see the girls grow up, but also knowing that he was dying to protect them and the entire wizarding world.

Roderick was dead before his head hit the floor. His final thought before death was regret and sorrow over how powerful his memory charms were.

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**I'm very surprised that I could pull off the death scene! I've never attempted one before, but I think it's okay.**

**Next Chapter by andnowforsomethingdifferent**

**Hope you enjoyed it and are now caught into The Sins of The Father. Please Review... cuz we all know touching that little blue button won't kill you!**

_**eMMeD :)**_


	2. An Heir

**A/N: Two chapters in one day! *gasp* Once again this is a combined fanfic by eMMeD and andnowforsomethingdifferent.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, we still don't own it!**

**This chapter was masterminded by andnowforsomethingdifferent**

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**Chapter Two**

The cries of newborn ripped through the house as lightning from the howling storm bathed the room with an eerie green glow. Bellatrix Lestrange lifted her newborn son and layed him reverently on his bed. His face was ghostly pale, emitting a ghoulish glow. His irises were a deep blood red, surrounded by a sickly yellow tint instead of white. His long, spindly fingers gave him an unnatural look, and when he opened his mouth, his tongue was marred by an almost reptilian fork. His cried were otherworldly, capable of installing fear in everyone but his mother, who smiled, because saw his wailings as an omen.

His bald head lay between two bedposts of snakes, whose heads slithered through the mouth of the skull that made the headboard. At the baby's feet two more snakes climbed down bedposts, their mouths open, ready to devour the Muggles depicted in the footboard. Bellatrix bowed low in front of her son's bed.

"My Love," she rasped, "I hope with all my heart that you will rise to the greatness of My Lord." She sat up slowly, her nails scraping against the splintered wood floor. Lightning flashed outside and thunder shook the small house as she threw back her head; a chilling scream tearing out of her throat, "ALL WILL BOW TO THE HEIR OF MY LORD!"

oOo

She was ripped out of the dream as she say up in bed, a bead of cold sweat making its way down her forehead. It wasn't the first time she had experienced these dreams, but the evil she felt there never failed to send chills down her spine. Her head ached from the vision, and in her heart she couldn't help but feel a sense of dread for the future. She looked over at her sister, sleeping soundly in the bed next to her, and even though she wanted to wake her so she didn't have to be alone in the darkness, she quietly laid back down.

She shuddered at the memory of the ragged woman's scream. The woman appeared in many of her dreams, but none had shaken her as much as seeing that child. His red eyes were burned into her memory, haunting her every time she closed her eyes. She saw the woman bowing in front of her son, he face to the ground. She tried to shake of the images as just a dream, but in her heart, she knew that tonight, something horribly evil was set on the world.

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**Okay, so another short chapter. She would have added more, but it would have gone off topic. To all our readers, please review and please go to eMMeD's profile and vote on my poll! Hope you enjoy! Next chapter may also be up today! Cross your fingers!**


	3. The Wand

**A/N: hey this is chapter three obviously! we would love to thank all of our zero viewers... or at least hits. Hopefully this chapter'll get some hits. Enjoy!  
Disclaimer: Nope still don't own Harry Potter, but if JK Rowling is selling... ah who are we kidding, at least eMMeD is broke!**

**This chapter is masterminded by eMMeD

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Casse tried to focus on the book in her hands, but she couldn't. An image of that horrible infant (better word than baby, at least infant did not sound as cute and sweet) kept cropping up, floating past her mind's eye, and sending a shiver down her spine. That was not even the scarier of the two dreams. She had been Roderick in the first dream. She had experienced what it felt like to die, felt her lungs collapse, saw the world grow dim.

Casse shook her head roughly. _Get your head out of those dreams, Cassiopeia Hayes. That is all they are, DREAMS._ She scolded herself mentally. For a moment, Casse nearly laughed. It was like her thoughts were channeling her mom. She remembered when she was little, like five or six years old. Casse had woken up crying. Now, she did not know what she had dreamt (Thank God for that), but she did remember waking up her sister, Cari, with all her crying. The combined force of Casse's cries and Cari's screams that her ears hurt was enough to bring their mom out of her room and over to the twins.

"Go back to sleep, Loves," Mom said as she swooped down between the sisters' beds. Her voice was tired and comforting with an irrevocable southern accent except for when she said 'Loves.' Then her voice would change to a different accent, like Irish.

"Mommy, I-I saw s-something," Casse wailed. Through her tears, she explained, though probably not very distinctly. Apparently Mom understood Casse. She kneeled down next Casse's bed and ran a comforting hand through Casse's blonde ringlets.

"It was just a dream…" she whispered comfortingly. Cari stared at Casse and stuck her tongue out. It was her way of saying _Thanks for waking me, Sis… I'll repay the favor someday. _

The next morning, neither mom nor sister was very accommodating when Casse let out a shriek during the news. A woman's face had darted across the TV screen. She was smiling her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail. When Casse had seen her, she was not smiling. She had been screaming soundlessly, her hair was cut short. Casse still remembered that part… glad she did not remember the torture this woman was put through.

When Casse had attempted to tell her mom why she screamed, her mom had dismissed it. "It was just a dream, Cassiopeia," Mom said, repeating what she had said last night, this time exasperatedly.

After that, Casse never told them about her dreams. She had had plenty of them. Never for anything good. She'd seen rape, murder, torture, but it was worse when she could hear it. Her dreams were either sound or vision, never both. Otherwise Casse was sure she would go insane.

Now she supposed she would go insane. Having two dreams, two terrible dreams, in one night with sight and sound was enough to cause anyone to go absolutely mad. Casse could not figure what had caused this change in her dreams to happen. Was it something she did yesterday?

_The Previous Day…_

Was a good night's rest too much to ask for? It seemed like either Casse was waking up from a bad dream or from her twin, Cari. Today it was the latter, looking perky and awake. Not that that was unusual. It was noon on the Wednesday during the first week of summer break. Casse's mentality over summer was sleep in late; Cari's was seize the day.

"Come on, Casse! It's a beautiful sunny day!" Cari said as she bounced onto the edge of Casse's bed.

"And…" Casse said irritably as she covered her head with a pillow. Cari laughed, and grabbed Casse's arm, pulling her reluctant sister into a sitting position.

"Mom said she would take us to the mall!" Cari said in an excited voice that begged her sister to join in. Casse did not understand why. She and Cari were not eager mall rats. Casse could only think of one reason why Cari would be so excited to go to the mall.

"But…but… that doesn't come out until the third!" Casse explained to Cari. Today was only the first.

"Casse today is the third. Wow, what are you going to be like all summer if you can't even keep up with the date only a week after school's out?" Cari asked. Casse grabbed her phone off of her bedside table. She flipped it open and saw the date glowing on the screen: June 3rd, 2009. How could she possibly have lost track of the days this early on in the summer? How could she not have realized it came out today?

"We gotta get going!" Casse said excitedly, getting out of her bed. They had to get to the mall quickly if they wanted a shot of getting one today.

An hour… It took Casse a whole hour to get ready. Sometimes Casse wished she could get ready quicker, but that was an empty wish. Casse would never do anything to change. She liked taking her time. What was so wrong with that? Apparently a lot or at least that was what Cari seemed to think.

When Casse got out of the shower, Cari was waiting by the front door, exasperatedly pointing at an invisible watch on her arm. "Hurry up, Cass, or they'll be all gone!" Cari yelled up at Casse.

"Just give me a second. I have to blow-dry my hair," Casse said, walking back to her room to get the hair dryer. Cari rolled her eyes. They both knew that if Casse blow-dried her hair it would be another half an hour. Cari walked over to Casse and pulled her sister out of the house, hair still dripping.

"Casse, are you sure you want to go to the mall looking like _that_?" Mom asked as the twins slumped into the car. Casse was shotgun. Cari was sitting behind her.

Casse turned and glared at her sister, "I don't have much of a choice." Cari just gave a half-apologetic laugh, but it mostly said_ you want to get there as much as I do_. Casse groaned. Sometimes she really hated being able to read her sister's actions like that, but, overall, it was actually pretty cool. It was similar to being able to read Cari's mind. Too bad it was only Cari she could read. Casse would really like to know what others thought about her…

"The last copy!" Cari yelled in triumph, holding up the book in triumph. The words "A Very Potter Musical/ Sequel: The Script" gleamed from the cover. Casse and Cari had just exited _Bail Howards Books._ They had been waiting for this for months. The scripts were free fandom items. Apparently the curator of the store was a relative of Darren Criss. The scripts were free publicity for the small book store.

Casse rolled her eyes but smiled all the same. "You don't need to announce it to the world, Cari!" Cari just shrugged in response. Casse pulled out her cellphone and looked at the time: 2:01. "Mom said she wouldn't be here until 3:30. Do you want lunch?"

"That actually sounds pretty good!" Cari asked, "And you are probably dying from hunger. You haven't eaten all day. What do you want?"

"Hmmm… Chinese sounds pretty good," Casse said and laughed at the face Cari made.

"Don't even kid," Cari said in a deadly voice that she reserved just for Chinese food. Cari hated Chinese and had since they were little. One of Mom's ex-boyfriends (Casse did not know which. There were too many) told Cari they used cats for meat, and, though Cari is not a huge cat-lover, she refused to eat Chinese ever since. This was probably why he was an ex now. Chinese is Mom's favorite food.

Casse smirked. She was now feeling quite awake and ready to repay Cari for making her leave the house with wet hair (not that Casse had never done this willingly before, and Cari had brought her a hat… but it was the principle of the thing). "Fine… how about some McDonalds?" Casse asked, not really the fanciest food, but every girl deserves to pig out every once in a while.

Cari raised her arms in a strange impression of a scale, like she was weighing her options, Chinese or greasy fast food. She finished out with one hand put down next to her side and the other one raised to a level near her neck. Cari looked at the higher hand and said, "McDonalds sounds good."

Ten minutes later they were sitting at one of the few empty tables in the food court. They were surrounded by tons of other teenagers enjoying the new freedom and families who thought it would be fun to drag little kids to the mall. Casse and Cari knew some of them, some of the teens went to school with the twins. There was Lindy Travis pda-ing Harris Kerr over in the corner. Dailey Corinth, Anna Treats, and Marie Jones were all oohing and awing over Sydney Hilts new hair cut (though it looked remarkably like Samantha Goodes' hairstyle she had sported all school year). Michael Finley, Carter Soles, and Dylan Parnell were all laughing at a magazine that made Casse glad she was five good tables away from them because she bet it was something crude.

Then there were also the people Casse did not know. A young mother and father sat side by side three tables to the twins' right. The mom had one hand on her husband's and the other busy scrubbing what looked like strained peas off of her baby's face. Three tables to the twins' left, a group of foreign college kids were conversing rapidly in what Casse recognized as French. Two of the girls flipped their silvery blonde hair and laughed at something one of the boys had said though the rest of the kids groaned (like the sort of groan you gave after a bad pun).

"You know what we should do?" Cari asked an excitement gleamed in her eyes. Casse was scared. Last time she had had that gleam, Cari and Casse had ended up stuck in a broom closet with a long purple stripe painted across their shirts (Long story).

"What?" Casse asked hesitantly.

"Be French!" Cari said this as if it was the most brilliant idea since e=Mc2. Needless to say, Casse was lost.

"What?" Casse repeated.

"ve shall follow zem!" Cari said in a very thick, very fake French accent, pointing at the French college students. Casse gave Cari a quizzical look. Could she really be related to Cari? "Oh, come on, Casse, don't you get it?" Cari had dropped the fake accent.

"Not really…" Casse admitted.

"We tag along behind them at a distance, speak with loud French accents, and wait for them to lose their tempers. _Il est parfait!"_ Cari said.

"Huh?"

"It means 'it's perfect!'" Cari said. Casse rolled her eyes. She knew that.

"I meant what is so perfect about it?" Casse asked.

"I've always wanted to see if what they say about the French is true!" Cari exclaimed.

"That they are rude? I mean this isn't a really good test for that. I think I would lose my temper if two random kids followed me all over the mall talking loudly in fake _American_ accents," Casse reasoned though part of her was interested in the idea. It actually sounded like fun.

"If you don't want to do it…" Cari said with that half-disappointed, half-nagging voice that drove Casse crazy.

"You wouldn't be Carina Hayes if you didn't come up with something to do, and I wouldn't be Cassiopeia Hayes if I turned you down," Casse said with a heavy eye roll at the grin that broke across her sister's face.

"Let's hear your accent," Cari said.

"Oui! Ze food eez good," Casse said in a terrible accent. Cari burst out laughing. "It wasn't that bad!"

"Leezen to moi. Zis Ameerican food eez eexceptional," Cari said. This time her accent did not even sound fake, just very heavy. Casse tried again and failed abysmally.

"How do you do that?" Casse asked her sister. Cari shrugged.

"I Leezen," She said as if it explained it all, then she dropped the accent, "Okay, new plan… since you can't do an accent to save your life…"

"My American is pretty good!"

"Like I was saying, since your accents suck," Casse stuck her tongue out, "we will just follow them at a distance; see how long it takes for them to realize we are following them. We'll show up in every store they go to, we go in a few minutes later." It actually sounded like it might be fun. This was why Casse kept Cari (well one of the reasons) around. She had fun ideas. She made Casse's life interesting in a good way… not like the dreams.

Ten minutes later Cari and Casse left the food court. They followed the group of French students at a distance, never closer than two stores. The group was four girls and three boys, so when they voted the girls always won. Casse and Cari followed them into the predictable stores, fussy boutiques, and a few shoe stores. Completely predictable! Not only were these stores not exactly the twins' style, but the French students had yet to notice their existence.

"Hey, look, one of the girls dropped something!" Cari said as they exited the third shoe store. Casse's feet were slightly hurting from attempting to try on a pair of shoes that had incorrectly been placed in a size 7 box. Cari ran anxiously over to the object, and her face fell. Casse walked over to where Cari was as gingerly as possible, wanting to see what the girl dropped and why Cari looked so disappointed. "It's just a stick," Cari said holding up a slim rod that was a little less than a foot in length.

Casse caught up to her sister and looked at the stick. The wood was very light and thin. At the end, a handle was carved. "It's probably not even worth returning," Cari said, turning to look for the nearest trash receptacle.

"Hey, wait!" Casse said, grabbing her sister's arm, "It looks like a wand." Cari rolled her eyes.

"Casse… I love the Harry Potter universe as much as you do, but wands and magic don't exist," Cari said.

"I didn't mean like a real wand. That would be awesome and everything, but I meant like a Harry Potter movie prop. You've seen the stuff online. Getting wands is really expensive," Casse explained, though deep down inside she thought it would be amazing if it were a real wand, remembering her disappointment on September first when she was eleven.

"Yeah, but if you hadn't noticed, we've lost the Frenchies," Cari said. Casse looked around them and saw that Cari was right, "I mean we could search if you…"

"Nah, we don't have time," Casse said looking at her phone: 3:23 pm, "Mom'll be here soon. Just give me the wand, and I'll turn it in." Surprisingly, Cari passed Casse the wand without any remarks. Probably because she had read Casse's expression that clearly read _I want one._

Casse went to the customer service area in the food court and turned in the wand. The guy behind the counter gave her an odd look that clearly said, 'you're giving me a stick?' She then met up with Cari and her mom in the parking lot. Cari and Casse spent the rest of the day reading AVPM/S aloud to one another.

_Today_

Unless receiving your favorite parody in script format somehow had the ability to give your dreams extra senses, Casse could not think of anything that could have changed her dreams. She instead tried to refocus on her book. This was like her fifth time reading the book since it came out in 2007. She kept trying to break her record for how fast she could read.

**Yet it did not occur to him now to try to escape, to outrun Voldemort. It was over, he knew it, and all that was left was the thing itself: dying.**

Casse shivered and put down the book. She could not read this, not now. It only reminded her about what it felt like. She willed for a distraction to occur.

"Casse, someone's at the door," Cari's voice echoed to where Casse was sitting, and Casse let out a sigh of relief. This had to be better than her dream.

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**Hope ya'll enjoyed, yes as southerners we have the right to say ya'll! Please review and favorite/ alert if you did enjoy! Next chapter will be by andnowforsomethingdifferent!**

**eMMeD :)**


	4. Hello, Professor!

**This Chapter was masterminded by andnowforsomethingdifferent**

**Hope ya'll enjoy!**

**Chapter Four – Hello, Professor!**

Casse strode towards the door, welcoming the distraction. _'But who would ever come to our door?'_ She wondered to herself as she turned the doorknob. When the door swung in, the man standing there was unfamiliar; unfamiliar enough to make her do a double take. He was thirty-five to forty years old, she couldn't really tell, and he had a sheepish smile on his face. But what really stood out were his clothes. He was wearing a long, dark robe that brushed the ground around his feet.

"Hello, Casse," he said quietly. Casse stood frozen, her hand clamped down on the doorknob so hard her knuckles turned white. He knew her name. That couldn't be a good sign. He didn't seem to notice her distress as he continued speaking. "I'm Professor Neville Longbottom, and I have some things I need to discuss with you."

'_OK, this man is obviously crazy. Neville Longbottom? Yeah right. This guy is probably some Harry Potter fanatic that came here from ComiCon. That would explain his outfit…' _"Hey, Cari?" Casse called, "There's a Professor Longbottom here to talk to us. I think you may want to see this." Casse heard her walking up behind her.

"Oh, ha ha Casse. Hilarious. You don't seriously think I'm going to fall for that do you?" Casse could almost hear the eye roll Cari was giving her. Instead of giving her a response, she just stood aside from the door. Professor Longbottom smiled.

"Hello Cari, I suppose you know why I'm here?"

"Because you escaped from the whacky shack?" Cari whispered under her breath. Casse stifled a laugh, but she couldn't do anything about the smile that spread across her face. Professor Longbottom seemed unfazed. He reached into an inside pocket of his…robe… and pulled out two thick, official looking envelopes. He held them out to Casse and Cari.

"These may help explain things. Let's go inside where we can discuss things." That had every alarm bell in Casse's head going off, but Cari walked right up to him and took the envelopes. She spun on her heel and walked into the house. As she walked past Casse, she whispered, "Have the cops on hold…" Maybe she wasn't as completely trusting as everyone thought.

Casse and Professor Longbottom followed Cari into the small sitting room off the foyer. Cari was sitting in her favorite oversized armchair, her legs dangling over one arm, her head resting on the other. She had one of the envelopes perched on her stomach, while she held the other one above her, waiting for Casse to come and retrieve it. Casse walked over and took the envelope before sitting in another chair. She crossed her legs and opened the envelope in one swift motion. She looked over at Cari, who, by the looks of it, found it necessary to completely demolish the envelope in order to remove the contents.

Casse sighed as the unfolded the document in her hands. She rolled her eyes when she read the heading.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

of WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Either this was a very elaborate practical joke, or this _'Professor Longbottom"_ was even more insane than she originally thought. She looked up at Cari to see her reaction. Cari had straightened up from her original position and was now sitting bolt upright in her seat. Casse looked back down and read the rest of the letter.

Dear Ms. Hayes,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Casse looked up from the letter to gauge Cari's reaction.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," Cari said. Yep, looked like they were on the same page.

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**_Author's Note: The letter is taken from _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, _page 51_. _J.K. Rowling's brilliant mind came up with it, not mine. I give her full credit, I had absolutely nothing to do with it. So please don't sue me, I don't think I could hold up in court too well. Ok, that's all._**


	5. Saved by the Fictional Character

**A/N: Hey hope ya'll can forgive us for the late update because it is soooo long. Took me forever with rewrites and junk! Hope ya'll enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I really wished I owned it, but I do not. JKR does!**

**This chapter is masterminded by eMMeD**

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"You have got to be kidding me," Cari said. She turned to look over at Casse, and Casse read the look her sister gave her as '_I'll distract, you make the call!_' Casse replied with a curt nod, and her hand darted into her pant pocket.

"If this is real, _Professor Longbottom_, why are you just now coming to us? We're fourteen," Cari asked skeptically. Casse did not hear whatever response the man gave (though she was sure it must be as insane as everything else) because she was too busy attempting to call the police.

There is no way to stealthily dial 9-1-1 when the flip phone is tightly packed in a skinny jeans pocket. Casse learned this the hard way.

After nearly a minute and a half and two '_Hurry it up' _looks from Cari, Casse gave up stealth. She pulled out the phone and began to dial. She hoped that Cari was still distracting Longbottom with her skepticism. 9- 1- 1, her finger hesitated over the call button as she caught Cari's voice. "If you are a wizard, prove it," Cari said.

"_Accio!" _Longbottom's voice said, and there was a moment in which Casse thought that this man was beyond delusional. Then the moment passed as Casse's phone flew out of her hand.

Casse turned to see Longbottom smiling broadly and holding her phone. He pressed the end button casually. "You'll have to do better than that. I went to school with Fred and George Weasley."

Casse felt her mouth hit the floor and saw Cari struggling for words. "Wh-huh? H-how is this possible?" Cari stumbled.

"I already explained," Longbottom started, but he began to laugh, "Of course you thought I was a nutter, so I doubt you listened." Casse shut her mouth and looked at the floor sheepishly.

Cari seemed to find words, "Well, you can't exactly blame us, can you? How would you feel if one of your favorite book characters knocked on your front door?" Longbottom quirked an eyebrow.

"Book character?" Longbottom asked, questioningly. It sounded like he was more surprised that the twins knew he was a fictional character than by the fact he actually was a book character, "Do you happen to have these books here in the house?"

"Yes, sir," Casse said uncertainly. What was so strange about having Harry Potter books in the house?

"Could one of you two bring them to me?" Longbottom asked.

"Sure…"  
"No, Cari, wait up," Casse said quickly. She grabbed the back of Cari's shirt before her sister could go get the books, "If there is anything those books taught me about the Wizarding World, it is always ask a safe question."

"Oh, come on, Cass!" Cari said, rolling her eyes, "Why would a death eater want to come to our house?" Casse could hear the laughter in Cari's voice, but chose to ignore her.

"What shape did your boggart take in Professor Lupin's class?" Casse asked.

"Seriously, Cass?" Cari said.

"The shape of my potion's professor, Severus Snape, who could scare the essence of murtlap out of anyone," Longbottom said with a reminiscent smile, "and that was a very wise move, Cassiopeia." He said the last part as Casse let go of Cari's shirt. Cari only took the time to stick her tongue out at her sister in a '_Yeah, full of moral fiber*' _way before scampering to their room to get the books. Without Cari there, an uncomfortable silence fell over the room. Casse's mind was bursting with questions, but it felt like her mouth was cemented shut.

"Kay, I'm back!" Cari said jumping back into the room. Somehow Cari had managed to lug all seven Harry Potter books from their room.

"You better have saved my place," Casse said, painfully uncementing her mouth. Cari snorted and rolled her eyes. Casse was pretty sure that meant '_Duh._'

Cari walked over to Longbottom and reverently set down the books onto his lap. She laid a hand on top of book one, Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone**, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Cari gave Casse a laughing smile, "It won't make sense…"

"Until the third book," Casse finished reminiscently, "So how did JK Rowling write these? I thought she was a muggle writer."

"Muggle-born, she was the D.A.D.A. teacher for about five years after Voldemort died," Longbottom said. Cari gave a very dramatic gasp. Casse rolled her eyes.

"Cari, no one would be scared of a dead guy's name," Casse said.

"Yuh-huh! They thought he was dead in ninety-eighty, and even McGonagall was…" Cari was cut off by the click of the front door opening.

"What's going on in here?"

"Mom!" Casse and Cari whispered urgently to one another. She was going to love this.

XXXXX

The following half an hour was filled with a lot of screams, two attempts to call the police, and a quickly mended black-eye. The result was a lot more pleasant than the steps it took to get there. Mom was sitting on the couch, Cari and Casse sat on either side of her, and Neville Longbottom sat on the armchair Cari had originally.

"This can't be real," Mom muttered. Casse and Cari rolled their eyes.

"Mom, you've had two phones summoned away and watched a guy magically unblacken his eye. What more proof do you need?" Cari asked.

"But he wants you to go to Hogwarts; doesn't that start at age eleven?" Mom asked. Casse was taken aback that her mom even knew that much about Harry Potter.

"As I have already explained to your daughters," Casse almost protested that he never had, but realized that was what he was doing while she was trying to call the police, "We have a list at Hogwarts that writes down every name of witches and wizards who will be attending Hogwarts with your blood status," Longbottom stated.

"Why their blood status? Isn't that a little prejudiced for Hogwarts?" Casse asked.

"We use blood status so we can know if we need to send a simple owl or, in the case of muggle-borns, a professor," Longbottom explained.

"Well, why didn't you guys find us quicker? You could have saved us from the horrors of American middle school!" Cari said. Mom shot Cari a '_Give the man some time'_ look, and Cari slouched back into the couch.

"Well, Carina,"

"Cari," Cari said. Her lip curled. Casse never understood why Cari disliked her full name so much. It was not that bad… like Cassiopeia.

"Cari, I'm sorry I could not save you from that," Longbottom said neutrally (though Casse thought she heard a hint of laughter in his voice), "But your names only arrived on the list as of yesterday. Usually we don't come by the houses of halfbloods, but…"

"Halfbloods!" All three of the Hayes women's voices echoed through the living room.

"My dream," Casse whispered to herself. She had thought the woman looked like her mom. What if?

Cari looked over at her sister. She quirked an eyebrow that meant '_What dream?' _Casse shifted a glance at their mom that meant '_Later.'_

"Hmm… I always wondered who your father was. I guess even wizards are susceptible to being…" Mom trailed off. She had almost said something about their dad. That was something she never did.

"So, I see that I can safely assume you did not know about him," Longbottom said.

"No, we did not talk much," Mom said, a far-off confused look crossed her face. You could almost cut the awkwardness with a knife. Casse did _not _want to know what her mom was thinking, and, by the look on her face, Cari had already attempted to figure it out.

Longbottom turned to the twins, "You two will be entered into Hogwarts as first year students."

"First years!" they yelled together.

"Not with the eleven-year-olds…"

"We're fourteen…"

"And I know we can do some spells…"

"Give me your wand," they both demanded, and then looked at each other. Casse and Cari were not the type of twins who finished each other's sentences. Casse read Cari's look to mean '_we find out we're witches, and, not even two hours later, we're already talking like Fred and George.'_

"M-my wand?" Longbottom asked taken aback. Casse and Cari nodded. "What spell are you planning on doing?"

"Silencio," Cari said.

"I believe that's a fifth year spell," Casse said in a voice that she knew made her sound like a know-it-all. Longbottom hesitated for a second, and then he pulled out his wand and passed it to Casse.

Cari opened her mouth to comment, "I wan-"

"Silencio!" Casse said, jabbing the wand sharply towards her sister. Cari continued to move her mouth, but only a small squeak issued. Cari turned to her sister and gave her a humorless look like '_Ha-ha,' _but Casse thought the squeak Cari still had was not acceptable. As soon as she got to Hogwarts, she was going to perfect that spell.

"Impressive," Longbottom said. He held out his hand for his wand.

"No, it wasn't. Now she is squeaking," Casse said as she passed Longbottom back his wand.

"Yes, but ," Longbottom waved the wand wordlessly, undoing Casse's weak charm, "you were using my wand and this was your first attempt. Carin… I mean Cari, if you would like to try a spell," Longbottom held out his wand. Cari eagerly snatched it up.

She looked over to Casse with mischievous eyes, '_pay back.' _Cari raised the wand, and Casse had to fight the urge to jump out of the way. Fair was fair. "Langlock!" Cari said, moving the wand in a swift upward movement. Casse felt her tongue glue itself to the roof of her mouth.

"Hey!" Casse attempted to say, but it came out like some strange animal cry, causing Cari to burst out in laughter as she handed Longbottom back his wand.

"Hmm… both very impressive," Longbottom said, "I'll have to speak to the head mistress of course," Casse was about to ask if that was McGonagall, but decided that was tactless, "Girls, I need to speak to your mother alone." Mom looked surprised, and Cari looked ready to protest, but Casse nodded to Longbottom and grabbed Cari's arm, pulling her sister to their room.

"Aww," Cari complained once Casse had closed and locked their bedroom door, "now we can't hear them."

"Don't worry. Longbottom probably cast muffliato to stop us from listening in," Casse said.

"Makes sense," Cari said as she slumped onto her bed, "but it doesn't make me any happier." She grimaced to prove her point.

"Same here, but, hey, we're witches," Casse said, trying to take over Cari's job as the cheering, distract-from-whatever-is-going-on twin. Casse really was not good at that, maybe she should just leave it up to Cari.

"But isn't weird stuff supposed to happen to us? I mean _I've _never done any accidental magic," Cari said. Her voice was slightly happier, willing to talk at least. Maybe Casse was better at the whole cheering thing than she thought.

"I-I've seen some things in my dreams… like people being tortured," Casse said quietly after a moment of silence.

"Wow, you have creepy dreams," Cari said with a low whistle, "and I thought the one about going to school naked was bad, but I wouldn't call that magic."

"The next day I see pictures on the news of the person I watched being tortured."

"Oh that is why you don't like watching GMA with Mom," Cari said, looking grave, "Didn't you say something about a dream while we were upstairs? Did you see someone get hurt last night?" Casse nodded.

"I was a guy who left his family for war and died," Casse said.

"Really?" Cari said sadly.

"I also saw the birth of some monster," Casse shivered as the infant's image darted across her mind's eye.

"A monster?" Cari asked dubiously, "Cass, are you sure that wasn't just a nightmare?" Casse nodded.

"Cari, we just found out we're witches. Do you really think monsters don't exist?" Casse asked.

"Hmmm… good point," Cari said, "So, tell me about it." Casse groaned. This was exactly the reason that Casse never told anyone about her dreams (well that and her fear of men with little white jackets.).

"What do you mean?" Casse asked in a thick voice. She hoped her stupid accent was better than her French one.

"Tell. Me. About. Your. Dreams," Cari said in her best '_you know exactly what I mean' _voice. There was no way around this one.

Casse took in a deep, shuddery breath and decided it was best to pull off the Band-Aid quickly. "Well…um…" despite her wishes, her voice came out like she had attempted to Silencio herself. Even thinking about the dreams made her want to curl up into the fetal position. "I…"

"Cari, Cass, please come back here," Mom's timid voice rang down the stairs. Casse let out a fully developed breath and smiled gratefully. Saved by the fictional character. Somehow Casse doubted that saying would catch on as well as saved by the bell.

"We're comin'" Casse yelled back.

"Casse, you're going to have to tell me later," Cari said in an unusually somber voice. Casse gave Cari a deflated nod. That was not what Casse wanted to hear.

She literally trudged to the living room and collapsed onto the couch in a haphazard way. Nothing could have brought out of the dark place that reliving her dreams was putting her in. Nothing but one thing. "Is that an owl?" Cari wondered aloud as took her seat next to Casse. At the word _owl_, Casse perked up.

She looked around the room and saw, sure enough, Longbottom by the window attempting to untie a letter from a small, fidgety barn owl. Its great iron eyes seemed to defy Longbottom with every twitch of its wings. "Stand still for five seconds, you blasted bird!" Longbottom said as the owl flitted to the left of Longbottom's hands. After three more attempts and a lot of cursing on Longbottom's behalf (somehow, Casse had never imagined Longbottom as a curser, but he seemed quite fluent), Cari was rolling on the floor laughing hysterically, Mom was sending the professor reproachful looks, and Longbottom was reaching into his robe pocket.

"Petrificus Totalus," Longbottom said, waving his arm wildly at the owl that froze on the spot a plummeted towards the floor. Longbottom caught the small bird with the skill of a seeker (Casse privately wondered if Harry had not been there, would Longbottom have been the seeker?) before it hit the floor. He quickly untied the letter and set the bird back to normal with enervate. The bird pecked Longbottom hard on the hand and flew out the still open window.

"What's that, sir?" Casse asked pointing to the letter in Longbottom's hand.

"That is a brilliant question, and I will explain that in a moment, but first I have to tell you what your mother and I've been talking about," Longbottom said. Cari, who had been slouched on the ground after her laugh attack, pulled herself back up onto the couch and sat up straight, giving Longbottom her full attention. This meant one of two things: 1) Cari was unbelievably interested in what Longbottom had to say, or 2) she was bored with staring around the room aimlessly. Casse was pretty sure it was the former.

"While you two were in your room," Mom began. Mom's voice seemed to cause Cari to zone out slightly. Her eyes gained a slightly glazed look. "Professor Longbottom wrote to the Headmistress about making an exception and letting you two start as fourth years." This brought Cari back to full attention.

"While the owl went…" Longbottom began.

"Wait, how did you get a reply so quickly from England?" Cari questioned. That girl had the attention span of a squirrel, but Casse could not say much. She was about to ask the same question.

"It was rush," Longbottom explained simply. Casse was about to ask how that worked, (An owl could only go so fast) but Longbottom continued speaking before she could ask. "But that doesn't matter right now. Your mother and I spoke about what would happen if the headmistress said yes. You will need summer training to catch up. I offered in the letter to take you to London and train you over the summer."

"Afterwards, he asked me," Mom said, continuing the story, "I told him that as long as you two want to, I had no objections." Cari looked over at Casse. Her eyes reflected the joy Casse was feeling right then. The dreams were once again out of Casse's mind.

"We're going to London!" Cari said in an awed voice. Of course, at this point, the little pessimistic voice awoke in the back of Casse's head.

"Only if the headmistress agrees," Casse said dismally. Cari glared at Casse as she sunk back into the couch.

"Professor L., could you show read the letter, so we can prove little Miss Downer wrong," Cari asked in a voice that sounded completely polite until she ruined it by giving Casse a look.

"I was just pointing out…" Casse began.

"Leave it, Cass," Cari said, pointing to Longbottom who was looking down at the letter expectantly, "I wanna hear this."

"Well, if everyone is ready… okay then," he unfolded the letter and cleared his throat, "'Neville, I trust your judgment. Do as you wish, and if the Hayes girls prove to be subpar, you will…' Uh-huh that is enough of that," Longbottom said, wadding up the paper and stuffing it into his robes, "but, I guess that means you will be going to London with me."

"When will they need to leave?" Mom asked questioningly.

"The sooner the better," Longbottom gulped, "we have a lot of work to do."

"Tonight!" Cari said.

"Yeah," Casse said, "If you'll hurry up our packing with magic, Professor Longbottom, we can be ready in like an hour!"

"Are you okay with this, Miss Hayes?" Longbottom asked. Mom shrugged.

"It is what they want. I'm fine with it," Mom said noncommittally. Cari shrugged happily and pulled Casse with one hand and motioned for Longbottom to follow them with her other one. Casse reluctantly let Cari pull her to their room.

If you ever wondered exactly how long it takes to pack by magic, Casse timed it to about ten minutes for her and Cari. Now divide that by two and you get about the approximate amount. Okay, so it was not exact, but, sadly, math had never been Casse's strong suit.

In fifteen minutes' time, the three were back in the living room, and Casse felt a lump forming in her throat. She was leaving her home, the home she had lived in since the age of five. She was leaving the country for a magical world she thought was completely fictional until this morning.

If Cari was feeling the same way, it did not show at all. She was literally bouncing on the balls of her feet, humming the tune she and Casse had long ago decided belonged to "Weasley is our King."

"Bye, Mom," Cari said, giving Mom a fleeting hug. Casse followed suit as Longbottom pulled out a small pull-string bag. He held his wand in the other hand.

"Incendio!" Longbottom said, pointing the wand into fire place. Flames leapt into life. "I trust you two have read about how to use floo powder." Both Cari and Casse nodded their heads eagerly.

"Where are we going?" Cari asked excitedly.

"The Leaky Cauldron, do you want to go first?" Longbottom asked. Cari nodded enthusiastically. Longbottom passed her the bag, and Cari loosened the top and threw a handful of green powder into the fire place. Casse had never expected floo powder to smell like barbeque. Cari stepped into the flames and carefully articulated, "The Leaky Cauldron, London, England." She disappeared in a large pillar of smoke. Mom gave an audible gasp. Even though Casse had expected it, it was still amazing.

Casse took her turn and found she did not like this form of travel. It was exactly how Harry had explained in the third book, and, by the time she reached her grate, she felt like someone had put her in a blender. She barely remembered to place her hands out, and almost felt the cold, stone floor against her face before two unfamiliar arms grabbed her by the hands and pulled Casse heartily to her feet.

"Woah, when Neville gets here, I'm going to have to give him a long talk about prepping for floo powder," Casse looked up to see that the speaker, her face-plant savior, was a kind-looking, blonde woman, "Anyways, Neville said you… Neville."

Professor Longbottom had just pirouetted into the pub. The twins' suitcases followed him out. "Hello, Dear," Neville said, planting a sooty kiss onto the woman's cheek.

"Neville, you told neither of the girls to put their hands out," the woman said.

"Hannah, they said they knew."

"We knew," Cari said. Casse looked over to see her sister sitting on top of an empty table.

"Yeah, just forgot," Casse added.

"Well…" Hannah began apologetically. She then rallied herself, "I will still be the one to teach little Susan how to floo," she said patting her barely bulging stomach. Casse realized Hannah must be pregnant, "We don't want a repeat of Alice."

"Oh, come on, Hannah. It's not my fault she ended up at…" Longbottom began.

"At the WWW Hogsmeade branch?" Hannah laughed.

"You two are married… so that makes you," Cari said pointing at Hannah, "Hannah Longbottom neẻ Abbot."

"Correct," Hannah said, smilingly. She turned to her husband, "I thought you said they knew nothing of the wizarding world."

"They had the books," Longbottom replied.

"Oh," Hannah said.

"Are we staying here?" Cari asked, looking around the surrounding pub. Casse was struck by the fact that this was the first time she had ever been in a real pub.

"Yes, I'll show you to your room," Hannah said. Casse and Cari both grabbed a suitcase and followed Hannah as she led them up three windy staircases and one tight corridor. Casse and Cari's room was the thirteenth on the right. Hannah opened the creaky door to reveal a meagerly furnished room. The paint on the walls was slightly peeling and the mirror was streaked, but the two beds were made and a chocolate ("yuck" thought Casse) was placed on each pillow. "I'm sorry for the mess. A hag stayed in here last night, and she had a guest," Hannah explained, "Mildred will clean it up in the morning. Neville wants you to be ready for work on the basics tomorrow morning at 8 sharp." Casse could almost feel Cari's indignation about having to wake up that early, and, obviously, Casse could not blame her. She wanted to wake up at noon.

Neither of them complained, and Hannah told them to make themselves at home before wishing them a good night and leaving their room. Casse was glad that Cari was exhausted, because that meant no more questions about Casse's dreams for the night. Cari basically fell asleep clothes and all on one of the two beds. Casse followed suit. This had been a long day.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed but I have two asterisks for a reason.**

***So I am really not sure how much sense '_full of moral fiber' _makes. I simply meant it was a useless act.**

**Oh yeah, the dates are gonna be slightly skewed.**

**Next chapter by andnowforsomethingdifferent**

**eMMeD :) **


	6. The Chilling Youth

**A/N: Hey, sorry for the late update! This is andnowforsomethingdifferent's turn**

**Disclaimer: Now life is not fair... If it were I would own the Harry Potter series, but I do not!

* * *

**

Even though she was exhausted, it took a long time for Casse to fall asleep. She couldn't stop her mind from racing. She had learned so much today that she was having a hard time sorting through all of it. She was a witch. It felt strange on her tongue, but it also felt like she had found something she wasn't even aware was missing. Even thought in her mind it was hard to comprehend, in her heart she knew it was true.

Her dreams still haunted her, though, and that was the main reason she couldn't sleep. She was scared that if she closed her eyes, she would see that evil manifestation of a child. It gave her a slight chill down her spine just picturing it. She tossed and turned, as if trying to physically repel the image from her brain. Eventually she gave up and sank into her pillow, finally giving in and letting sleep take her away.

oOo

"Come, my Dear," the shrill, female voice called out, echoing against the damp, mold covered, stone walls. In the center of the room was a rich mahogany table, sticking out in sharp contrast to the sickly walls. At the head of the table sat a small man with silvery hair. No, it was a child, but it exuded the authority and intelligence of a full grown man. It sat with perfect posture, it's long spindly hands resting entwined on the large rectangular table.

"No, Mother," the child said with a cold, calculating voice that had never once passed the lips of a child so young, "it is not yet time. He will not be made aware of my being until I am ready to face him. You will have to utilize the little patience you possess until I give the order to contact him." The words from the child's mouth were in such contrast with his physical appearance, it was almost comical, but the venom with which they were uttered made it an unmistakably evil scene.

"Yes, Child. As you command." It was almost surreal, watching a mother in such subordination to her child, so much so it was frightening. A child with such authority and intelligence, and at that young of an age, would grow to be virtually unrestricted when he grew to be an adult.

oOo

Casse sat straight up in bed, her covers twisted around her legs, her hair sticking to the thin sheen of sweat that coated her forehead. She had dreamed of the child again, and it was just as horrifying, if not more so, than her first dream. She slowed the beating of her heart and the rapid succession of her breaths and rose from her bed. She walked slowly over to Cari's bed and looked down on her sister's sleeping form. She debated waking her, but the internal debate was soon moot, because Cari turned over and met Casse's eyes.

"Nightmares?" she asked.

"Yes," Casse whispered.

"Tell me." But Casse never had the chance, because Professor Longbottom chose that moment to knock on the girls' door.

"Are you awake?" a slightly muffled voice called from the other side of the door.

"Yes!" Casse and Cari replied in unison.

"Well hurry up and get ready, because today we're going shopping for your school supplies," the voice from the hallway called back. Casse and Cari looked at each other.

"Shopping in Diagon Alley," Casse whispered, a smile on her face. She looked down at Cari.

"The mall will never be the same again."

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**Sorry it is so short, I hope you enjoyed though! R&R!**

**eMMeD :)**


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